Chapter Two: If Only I Could Go Back
You ever get the feeling that time has gotten slower? Do you ever wish you could fast forward the bad parts and live in a happier state? That's what I wished for. However, time in life can play a cruel joke. You have to endure it for a long, long time…until you're done on earth. You can wish it, but it'll never happen. That day, my graduation, was considered the day I wanted to fast forward. That text message changed my whole perspective.
I decided then to spend the night at AL's, texting Daddy where I'll be. To him, he knew it would be best. Hayley was with her friend as well. Mother would call me, but I ignored her. She would leave voicemails of her yelling at me to come home, as well as Hayley. Again, I didn't reply. She can yell at me all she wanted, but I wasn't going to talk to her or Daddy. I just wanted to be left alone, just for tonight. Let me cool down from my twisted emotions.
"Papá, si la madre de KP es por el, dile que estamos fuera." AL spoke to her dad. He only nodded. To those who are new in the language of Spanish, she was basically telling her dad to stall my mother from storming into their house and drag me outta it. I don't know why this was happening. I mean, Mother and Daddy have always argued in the past and fought a lot, but I guess, growing up, I never thought they would get a divorce. They've been married for so long. Why did it have to come this way? It's not fair. It's not fair!
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" I slammed my fists on the floor. AL tried to get my mind off of it while playing video games, but it didn't work. She sat there quietly, listening to my rant. "WHY OF ALL TIMES DID IT HAD TO BE TODAY?! WHY DID IT HAVE TO RESULT TO THIS?! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"
"KP, you know that what your parents did was not your fault..." AL interrupted.
"STILL, WHY?! I THOUGHT MARRIAGE IS WHAT YOU BUILD, NOT WHAT YOU DESTROY!" My tears stained the carpet. "It's completely unfair. I just wanted..." I let out a hiccup from my fit. "I just wanted a summer to look forward to...before college." I let out an uncontrollable sob, burying my face close to the carpet. I hated feeling so pathetic. The fact that all of my emotions were bottled up until I finally came to a realization to let it all out. AL sat close to me, placing her hand on my back.
"KP, I am sorry that this had to happen. I know the feeling..." She trailed off before picking up to another subject. "Look, this summer, you got two of your friends coming out, and we're gonna try our best to make this the best summer ever, okay?" I then looked up to meet her eyes. I know she was trying to drive my thoughts away from the previous event. She is my best friend, after all. God, I nearly forgot that Leah and Andy were coming out. I have to tell them what happened; I can't tell them that their trip is cancelled; I just can't. I've waited this long, and I didn't want to lose this opportunity. But, what will my parents say? Will they change their minds?
My phone vibrated; a call from Daddy. I sighed and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sunshine, you okay?" The sweet voice of my father asked gently.
"Yeah, I'm with AL still. How's the house?"
"It's quiet. Your mother left to stay at a hotel." He paused. "I'm sorry, honey, doing this to you. I just..." He paused again, heaving a sigh. "I can't take anymore of this, playing house, making myself miserable."
"If it's the only way, Dad, then it has to be. I just...I kinda wished that you waited after my graduation. I know it sounds selfish, but..."
"No, no, you're right," he interrupted. "It's your special day, and I'm sorry for ruining it. At least you'll still have a good summer. Your friends are still coming out, right?"
I sighed with relief. Good, I can still see them. "Yeah, Dad, they're still coming."
"Oh, good. I didn't want you to tell them they couldn't come on my account. Listen, we'll get through this, okay?"
"I know, dad." I paused. "Is my bell still there?"
"What, your portal bell? Yeah, it's here."
"Okay, I'll probably pick it up later. We're gonna go see Uncle Basil and everyone."
"All right, you tell them I said hi."
"I will. Love you, Daddy."
"Love you, too, Sunshine. Tell AL goodnight for me."
WE said our goodbyes and I hung up. I took a deep breath and let it out, rubbing my eyes. "Wanna call it for the night?"
"Nah, I can't sleep yet. Truth is, I'm still afraid to sleep."
"Are you talking about that nightmare?" AL asked. To answer her question, yes. It was that strange nightmare I keep coming back to. I would wake up in my dream, all bruised up, yet I couldn't feel the pain except for numbness. Then, my killer would keep pressing his foot down on my head before raising it back up to stomp my brains out. There were only two traits I could capture from the blinding light: his voice and those auburn glowing eyes.
"It's just…weird. I mean, I know I heard that voice from somewhere, but I just don't remember where from."
"Well, the only ones I know that hate your guts are that whiny bitch in our English class and that fat chipmunk." AL pondered.
"Well, we can rule both of them out. It's a male, and the voice doesn't sound so gruff."
"Maybe it's a premonition? Dreams can be of the future, too. Like déjà vu."
I then shrugged. "I guess so." I looked up at the screen; our game was still on pause. "Come on, let's finish this. I wanna get my mind off of the bad crap."
"Can do, Sunshine!" AL beamed as I let out a giggle. I've been called Sunshine for a long time, and it was caught on as a nickname, especially to Basil and Ratigan. I blame Daddy for it. He's called me that since the day I was born, saying that I glowed on that rainy day. I guess it's a nice name, better than sweetheart or toots or other cute nicknames that are out there.
"AELEEN!" Her father called her from upstairs after an hour or so.
"WHAT?!" She responded. All I got from him was my name and the word "hermana." I knew what that meant.
"What's Hayley doing here? It's nearly midnight…" I asked as we both raced upstairs. Reaching the top floor, there stood Hayley, her eyes widened in fear. "Hayley, what's wr…?"
"THEY'RE COMING! WE GOTTA HIDE!" She screamed, literally slamming the door behind her. AL's father stepped back in confusion as the siblings rushed downstairs to the commotion.
"Wait, what? Hayley, calm down." I tried to reassure her, but she frantically pulled me into a hug.
"OH, GOD, KIARA, IT WAS HORRIBLE! THEY…THEY CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!" She gasped for air, as if her own soul was sucked out of her body.
"Hayley, settle down!" I had to pull her back to look at me. "Who is 'they'?"
She breathed short breaths. "I…I don't know…one minute, I heard something like airplanes and motorcycles and…I was at Kyin's and the lights went out and…the windows were smashed and these…THINGS came out of nowhere! It must've been a gang or something! Oh, God, they even took KYRIN!" She burst into tears, crying into my chest. I was literally shocked in hearing this. I looked at AL in worry. Hearing my sister bursting out about gang members broke into the house and tried to kidnap her. Her friend was caught in the mid-fire. "I…I got away, I took the car, and drove back here. You were the closest!"
"All right, all right, you're here now, okay?" I looked into her eyes. "You're gonna be okay. We're gonna call 911, and you need to tell them exactly what happened, all right?" I pulled out my phone and dialed the number.
"911, what is your state of emergency?" A woman spoke softly and calmly on the other end.
"Hi, my name is Kiara Phoenix and my sister came from her friend's house, saying some gang member broke into their house and…"
"I'm sorry; did you say your name was Kiara Phoenix?" The woman asked, cutting me off.
"Yes and my sister…"
"Your name is Kiara Lee Phoenix?" My breath was caught in my throat. How did she...? "Well, is it?"
"I…Ye...Yea-Why are you asking for my name twice?! My sister was nearly attacked by a gang and they kidnapped her friend!" I yelled at the woman. There was a pause.
"So…it really is you. The famous Kiara Lee Phoenix that had everyone praising over because you changed the heart of a criminal." The woman chuckled darkly. My body went stiff. AL looked at me, mouthing "what's going on?"
"Ho-How do you know all this? Who is this?!" I yelled again. No response. "WHO IS THIS?!"
"I found you, you little bitch…" A gruff familiar voice rang through my ear. My eyes widened. Oh, my God…it can't be…
"Ch-Chippendale?" I uttered his name. My sister covered her mouth as AL's hung open. The line went dead. I stared at my phone and back to Hayley. It took me a moment to speak. "Hayley, get back in the car. We're going home." My mind raced to the thoughts on alerting Basil and Ratigan about this. It was the only safest place I could think of. I turned to AL. "Get everyone downstairs and make every door is locked. Don't open the door to anyone until I get a hold of the police." AL then nodded and nearly pushed her father and her siblings downstairs. She then looked at me and gave a friendly threat.
"You better call me as soon as you get home." She gritted through her teeth. She was scared, and so was I. We all were. Her family was still confused about what just happened, but Hayley and I didn't stay. AL pushed us out, but only did so to get us going. It was storming out, ironically.
"Gimme the keys." I told Hayley, but didn't wait and just grabbed them from her hands. Our car screeched on the pavements as I sped off with my sister, dodging other cars. I didn't care at this point if I get stopped by police. If I did, who they listen to a crazy driver who's getting home after getting a threatening call that posed as a 911 receiver? I doubt it. We made it back home, but seeing the lights off only made my fear grew. I quickly got out, not caring on shutting the door, and fidgeted the many keys to open our front door.
"DAD?!" I called out as I swung it open. No response. "DADDY?!" I rushed upstairs to his bedroom. It was locked. He usually locked it so Moonlight, our cat, wouldn't get in his room. I banged on the door with my fists. "DAD, WAKE UP!" He still wasn't responding. I banged on it again when suddenly; my sister who still downstairs let out a shriek. My heart stopped. I raced back downstairs. A clash of lightning and thunder illuminated the empty house. The front rocked back and forth open. "Hayley?! HAYLEY?!" I screamed for her. She wasn't responding. Oh, God. This wasn't happening. This can't be happening! Everything was repeating back two years ago; that night I was taken. If only none of this ever came true…memories, bad memories raced into my head…
"He's taking you away. You won't be able to go back home."
"Hey, baby. How's about you come out and spend the night with me?"
"DON'T HURT ME! DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME!"
"I love you, Big Sis."
"Obviously, I wanted to kill them. I just felt like it."
"I'm…better off dead."
The windows smashed open as the wind shrieked throughout my house. I covered my head from getting hit. It was like I was in a twister. Everything around me was flying! I opened my eyes, but a blunt object the back of my head, causing my vision to blur. My head started spinning. If only I could've changed what happened…if only I didn't 911…if only my family weren't involved in this…I would've stopped him back then...
I felt myself hit the ground, only to hear the sounds of airplanes and motorcycles before everlasting darkness engulfed my world.
If only I could go back…
A bird chirping rang through my ears as my mind slipped back into consciousness. My senses slowly turned back on as I felt dirt and gravel on my back. I fluttered my eyes open to greet the harsh sun that stung my eyes. I slowly held my arm up to shield the light from me. My body was aching all over. My brain pulsated, pounding the skin on my head. I carefully lifted myself to sit up, trying to now gather my surroundings. I must be outside of some sort. Was there really a twister that just happened or…was it something else?
I blinked a couple of times, looking up to a gigantic tree. And I say gigantic, I mean literally abnormal gigantic. It was big enough to be the size of Big Ben. Yet, it wasn't the only thing that was big. Everything around was big! The blades of glass, the clovers, the rocks; it was like I stepped into a forest of my own backyard. This…This isn't London.
"Wh-Where am I now?" I spoke out of the blue. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was when suddenly; I heard a soft "thump" behind me. I turned around. A little seed of grain rolled onto the gravel. However, I wasn't looking at the seed. I was looking at the person who dropped it. Staring back at me with wide eyes was a light violet-skinned ant.
Oh.
My.
God.